Clear Out the Old Yeast
Piety
Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened. For our Paschal Lamb, Christ has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8
Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" Looking around at them all, he then said to him, "Stretch out your hand." He did so and his hand was restored. Luke 6:9-10
Study
Clear out the old yeast is Paul’s way of advising the people of Corinth to not only purge the sinners from their midst but also to clean up their own act. Even if they are not guilty of the sin (incest) under discussion, their pride gets in the way of action.
Cleaning out the community of sinners and our personal lives of sin are both needed.
Jesus takes a different approach. Although the words are unspoken in this episode, at other times when the Pharisees put Jesus to the test, he asked about their intentions: “What are you thinking in your hearts?" He knows this was another test even though the words were not spoken. Yet Jesus continued on…purging the man’s body of its affliction just as St. Paul would urge people to purge the community of individuals which afflicted it and their own lives of sin.
As Passover approaches, St. Paul encourages us to celebrate the feast with the new bread of sincerity and truth.
Action
Jesus invites us to come and stand before him, too. What afflictions will He have the opportunity to cure? Moral sins? Physical conditions? Mental anxiety? Social disease?
Who will present the obstacle for Jesus to overcome? Rather than these obstacles forcing us to be disconnected from Jesus, getting rid of them will allow us a clear path to be united with Him. Celebrate the feast of union with Jesus with clear hearts and strong minds.
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